Hard as Lightning, Soft as Candlelight
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: Summary: A Fire Nation raid takes place on the Northern Water Tribe, as the banished Prince Zuko conducts a fevered search for the Avatar. A prisoner is taken… but what happens when she falls in love with the man who kidnapped her?
1. Chapter 1

Hard as Lightning, Soft as Candlelight

_Hard as Lightning, Soft as Candlelight_

Summary: A Fire Nation raid takes place on the Northern Water Tribe, as the banished Prince Zuko conducts a fevered search for the Avatar. A prisoner is taken… but what happens when she falls in love with the man who kidnapped her?

Chapter 1

Liu Cheng opened her eyes. Had she dozed off writing again?

She felt her quill pen in her hand, and her pad on her lap. That was an affirmative!

Liu was a little-known poet in the Northern Water Tribe. She would ask the local librarian to put her poems in the library for people to read; the librarian would give her feedback, and let her know to send more poems.

But she couldn't really start on this one. She'd titled it "This is My Life", but… her life hadn't been exciting.

A flash of red, orange, and yellow exploded outside her window. As it did, a _BOOM_ issued with it.

Liu jumped up, thoroughly frightened. What was happening? Was the Fire Nation attacking?

She hurried outside. The village was in flames. Red and orange engulfed everything and smoke filled the air.

Liu's heart swam in fear. What about the library?

She ran as fast as her legs would let her. The library was burning, too. She raced inside the building. She had to save her poems.

She sprinted up the stairs. One of her shoes was gone. She knew she was getting bad burns all over her body.

The room that housed her poems—the Local Writers' room—was the worst of all. Smoke was everywhere. It was so thick, Liu could barely see. She could barely breathe.

The smoke made her eyes sting. Her chest was aching and felt as if it too had caught fire. She collapsed on the ground, unable to see, unable to breathe.

A hand grasped her arm and dragged her along. Her vision cleared, and all at once she could breathe. She realized she was no longer in

the library. She was outside.

Still the blaze rained around her. The hand still had her by the arm.

Liu looked up at her savior and her captor. Why, he was no older than she was! Sixteen years old, at best. The left side of his face was marked by a terrible scar. As for hair, all he had was a ponytail of jet black at the back of his head. But the first thing Liu noticed about the boy were his piercing gold eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked in between coughs.

He didn't answer her. He simply pulled her to her feet and picked her up. He put her over his shoulder and started running.

They got on a Fire Nation warship. "Put me down!" Liu commanded. "I'm not an invalid! I can _walk_!"

Again, she received no answer from the teenager. He carried her to a room and merely tossed her unceremoniously on the bed. "STAY HERE!" he yelled at her, much to her surprise. He turned and left, slamming the door with such a force that an earthquake would be jealous.

Liu glanced around the small room. Fire Nation symbols decorated the walls and the room was painted red.

She couldn't stop the tears as the ship began to move. Her life was over.

Sweet woe, wrapped her in a bitter embrace. Bittersweet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Liu assumed she'd fallen asleep at some point, after crying herself out. She opened her eyes to see if the boy had returned.

He had. In fact, he was lying on the floor beside her right now. He didn't have a shirt on, and he didn't have a blanket either. Liu felt a blanket over her own body, though. It hadn't been there when she remembered falling asleep. This boy must have covered her.

Gently, she reached down and nudged the boy. "Wake up," she whispered.

His eyelids fluttered, then she saw his golden eyes. He sat up, rubbing his head. "What? You can't let me sleep?"

His voice was beautiful when he wasn't shouting. "I… who are you?"

"My name is Prince Zuko. I am Fire Lord Ozai's son, but as of two years ago I have been—" He clapped twice. "Banished."

"Why have you taken me from the Water Tribe, Prince Zuko?"

"Simple." He stood up and stretched. "I needed a captive for the attack to be a complete success."

"Well, release me at once!"

"How about no? The Avatar cannot resist helping a person in peril. When he does, there will be a trap waiting for him! I'll finally catch him and go home!"

"I'll say it nicely one more time." She stood up. "LET ME GO OR YOUR FIRE IS GOING TO BE ICED!"

"You sound like my sister. Always with the threats." He pushed her back on the bed. "You are staying right here."

"And by the way, Prince Zuko—how exactly do you plan to put me in peril?"

"You're on my ship, aren't you?"

That pretty much made sense, so Liu shut up.

"I didn't get your name," Zuko said after a moment.

"Liu Cheng."

"Liu. What a beautiful name. And does Miss Cheng have a middle name?"

"Xela."

"Liu Xela Cheng. And how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"That's how old I am."

"So if I must stay here, when does the ship at least stop?"

"We're making a brief stop to get more fuel on Kyoshi Island."

"Can I look around in the shops for a few things?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I need some pens and paper for writing, Prince Zuko. I'm a poet."

"I will get them for you. As for you, Liu, you shall remain on the ship with my uncle."

"Fine." She crossed her arms. "What am I supposed to do till then?"

"I have no idea. Just do whatever."

"Fine. Aren't you going to leave so I can do 'whatever'?"

"Um, no. My room, my ship, my rules."

"Your room?"

"Yes."

"I slept in your room?"

"That's a yes, Miss Cheng."

_Miss Cheng_. All her life she craved that honorary title. But now this arrogant teenager was calling her that name, she no longer yearned for it. "My _name_ is Liu," she told him.

"Whatever."

"So, wait… was that you who put that blanket on me?"

"I didn't put anything on you. That was probably my uncle. He checks all the rooms. You must have looked cold to him."

"Oh." She looked at the floor.

Clearly the prince had no idea of what to say, either. "Uh… uh…"

"But," Liu said, "you _did_ sleep on the floor _without_ a blanket for me. You could have woken me up and kicked _me_ on the floor, but you didn't!"  
"Well, I'm not all bad. What did you expect? You were asleep, and your face was wet. I figured you'd been crying, so I left you alone."

Liu nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He folded his arms over his chest, which was still bare. "Why were you crying, anyway, Li-Li?"

So he was calling her Li-Li now? Where did _that_ come from? "My _name_ is _Liu_."

"Fine. Why were you crying, _Liu_?"

"You took me from my home and you burnt down the library! _All_ of my poems were in that library, Prince Zuko!"

"I'm truly sorry about that, Liu."

"Right. Whatever. I don't even remember _half_ the poems I wrote and now I'll never remember them!"

"Calm down." Zuko put a hand on her arm. "Now, you need to just stay calm."

"Stay calm? You want me to _stay calm_?! I'm on a Fire Nation ship, being held captive by someone who could turn me into a fried sweet-and-sour shish kebab! And you expect me to _stay calm_?!"

"Yes, that's what I expect you to do, Liu. Relax. Yes, I'm holding you captive. But I will only hurt you if it is absolutely necessary." He took his hand off. "I don't start attacking someone because I feel like it. I'm better than that."

"Fine." She closed her eyes. She seriously couldn't trust her eyes. They kept wandering to look at Zuko's chest.

"Liu? Why did you close your eyes?" she heard him ask her.

"Please put a shirt on," she requested.

"Oh. Well, if that was what was bothering you…"

She heard rustling. "Okay, it's on," he told her.

She opened her eyes. He'd put a red shirt on, along with his black pants. "Thank you."

"Um, no problem. Listen—I'm going out for a few minutes, Liu. I need some air. I'll be back, but just… yeah, do whatever."

Zuko left, and Liu looked around her. All this Fire Nation stuff on the walls drained her; she felt as if she couldn't waterbend or heal anyone even if she was given the whole ocean to use.

Hopelessness had descended upon her, feeling like a blanket of despair, so thick that soon she would drown in it.

**OK. What do y'all think? I changed Christina's name to Liu. It means "flowing" in Chinese, which I guess seems more appropriate for a waterbender.**

**Be brutal! Zuko?**

**Zuko: I'm not doing it.**

**Me: Fine. I'll get Aang to.**

**Zuko: I'll do it. A'isha doesn't own Avatar or me, but she does own Liu. Bye.**

**Me: Bye, Zuko! See you later for inspiration!**

**Zuko: Like the underworld you will… ;**

**Well, he certainly has a bad attitude. Alright, bye-bye everyone, hope you like!**


End file.
